Chapter 3158: An Irresistible Trap

The scorching sun hung in the sky, yet Su Xiao could not feel a shred of warmth. There were few pedestrians on Central Street, and he did not see anyone dead in front of the gallery.

Although there were no human corpses on the street, there were several piles of pale ash in front of the gallery's main entrance. It was highly likely that civilians had mistakenly wandered into the Death Domain, their souls shattered and their bodies reduced to ash.

Blood Qi spread with Su Xiao as the center, quickly enveloping the surrounding few hundred meters. Screams and the wailing of infants came from all around. Before long, many men carrying table knives or women holding children scattered and fled in all directions, frightened away by the Blood Qi.

He could not allow civilians to remain nearby. When a living being was buried within the Death Domain, the area of the Death Domain would expand. It started with a diameter of 10 meters, with an unknown upper limit.

A few civilians wandering into the Death Domain was not too serious a matter; the increase in range would not be large, at most a few meters. However, if a transcendent died inside, the range would increase by hundreds, thousands, or even ten thousand meters.

Once this situation arises, everyone will die in Kedu; they simply cannot escape. After the Domain of Death expands to a certain range, the increase in range caused by the deaths of civilians is actually even more terrifying, because of the sheer number of civilians.

The ideal growth method for the Death Grail was to first kill a transcendent to increase the range to a thousand meters, then instantly kill the civilians within that thousand meters, and then continue to expand the area. The larger the area, the faster the snowball effect.

Once, the Death Grail had completely enveloped a city in just 3.9 seconds. That city was named "Enka," the Enka that was swallowed by volcanic lava.

In reality, the civilians there died to the last person because of the Holy Grail of Death. It was the Agency that subsequently blew up the nearby volcano, covering up the incident together with the Alliance to avoid causing widespread panic.

If the Death Grail were allowed to grow, given Kedu's population, it would only take a few seconds for the Death Domain to envelop the place. In such a short time, there would be no possibility of escaping.

Su Xiao half-squatted on the ground, pressing his index and middle fingers together against the floor. He closed his eyes and released his perception, and everything around him became crystal clear.

There were no civilians within a 300-meter radius. The other buildings were nothing special, except for the gallery ahead. Inside this gallery was a circular area with a diameter of 15 meters that was very strenuous to perceive; it was gray with a hint of white, as if death were spreading within.

Su Xiao attempted to perceive inside. A few seconds later, he sensed an ancient metal cup at the very center of the spherical domain. It was indeed the Death Grail.

At this moment, the Death Grail was placed on a stone platform. The surrounding ground was nailed with many 3-meter-long iron pipes, totaling several dozen, each as thick as an arm.

On these iron pipes were distributed many hooks, with metal wires hanging from them, coiling within the gallery. While surrounding the Death Grail, all the metal wires were pulled from a metal chair.

This metal chair was thick and heavy, iron-black in its entirety, and mottled rust and dried bloodstains could still be seen on it.

A man covered in translucent fluid, wearing only boxer shorts, sat on the metal chair. His arms were fixed to the chair's armrests with rivets, as were his legs. On his head, he wore a strangely shaped metal hood; this hood looked like an improved animal trap, with a ring of blades around the neck. Once the mechanism was triggered, these blades would pierce diagonally into his skull, destroying his entire brain.

The back of this metal hood was connected to a metal wire. On the other side of this wire was a line wheel. The main gear of this line wheel rotated at a frequency of one notch per second, keeping the wire connected to the back of the metal hood taut, about to be pulled out.

This man sitting on the metal chair was not dead. Logically speaking, this was impossible; he was currently inside the Death Domain.

Su Xiao estimated that it was highly likely the semi-fluid smeared on the man's body was blocking the Death Domain from killing him, but it could not block it for long. The semi-fluid smeared on the opponent was evaporating; once a localized gap appeared, the Death Domain would be enough to kill him.

There was no need to doubt it: this person was a transcendent, and someone had set all of this up.

Su Xiao's first thought was to retreat, to leave Kedu immediately, but he could not be certain of one thing: whether the mechanism inside the gallery would be triggered immediately.

If it were triggered immediately, turning around to retreat now would instead be walking toward a dead end. After the transcendent inside the gallery died, the range of the Death Domain would increase to at least several hundred, or even a thousand meters. This was the central business district where every inch of land was worth gold; the population density of civilians could be imagined.

Once the Death Domain began to spread, it would inevitably kill a large number of civilians. The whole process would only take a few seconds, and the Death Domain would envelop the entire Kedu. The time was too short; there was no way for Su Xiao to rush out.

Su Xiao's first thought was that the Supreme Insect had set all of this up, but for some reason, the style of this scene made him feel slightly familiar.

After a preliminary observation, Su Xiao discovered that the matter inside the gallery was a timed mechanism, which made him feel relieved. Compared to a mechanism controlled by someone, a timed mechanism was easier to solve.

Su Xiao arrived at the street in front of the gallery and stopped when he was half a meter away from entering the Death Domain.

Ding, ding!

Fangzhu flashed past, leaving several afterimages, and the gallery door was violently dismantled. Six meters directly in front of Su Xiao was the man sitting on the metal chair.

Su Xiao carefully observed the metal hood the opponent was wearing. Based on his insights into mechanism science and mechanical engineering, this metal hood had a total of three lethal means.

Once the metal wire behind the metal hood was pulled away, these three lethal means would be triggered simultaneously, causing that transcendent to die there. Once the opponent was buried within the Death Domain, his soul energy would inevitably be absorbed by the Death Domain, with unimaginable consequences.

Su Xiao took out a harpoon-like launcher from his storage space, fixed an anesthetic injection to it, and fired a shot at the man on the chair. He was not saving a hostage; heaven knows if this man sitting on the iron chair was in cahoots with the mastermind.

Su Xiao is very interested in the semi-fluid smeared on this person's body; this substance can actually isolate the influence of the Domain of Death, which has great research value.

The anesthetic needle stuck into the man's chest, but he still kept his head lowered. Seeing this, blue light surged in Su Xiao's pupils. Fangzhu floated in front of him, his right hand raised, and an energy thread connected to Fangzhu.

Su Xiao controlled Fangzhu to fly into the Death Domain. As soon as it entered the Death Domain, Fangzhu was eroded, but fortunately, its exterior was already wrapped in Green Qing Qing Gang Ying energy. As an inanimate object, even if Fangzhu were eroded, it would happen layer by layer.

The energy thread connected to Su Xiao's arm emitted a faint light. To ensure that Fangzhu within the Death Domain was not eroded, Su Xiao's Green Qing Qing Gang Ying ability was consuming energy at a steady pace.

There were currently two choices: save the man on the iron chair, or take the Death Grail away. However, Su Xiao was not prepared to choose either of these.

In fact, Su Xiao did not want to do it himself; there were too many unknown factors, and the risk was too high. But there was no time to wait now. Once the man inside the gallery died, Su Xiao would also be buried here due to the spread of the Death Domain. Delaying for even one more second was equivalent to increasing the risk by one point.

Su Xiao controlled Fangzhu to fly above the Death Grail. The blue light in his eyes grew even brighter, and Fangzhu suddenly turned into an afterimage, stabbing toward the Death Grail below.

Whether it is saving people or taking away the Holy Grail of Death, there are risks. Right now, destroying the Holy Grail of Death is the best choice. Although it will appear somewhere else not long after being destroyed, that is not important.

With a click, the Holy Grail of Death was pierced by Banishing. The surrounding Domain of Death vanished in an instant. Taking this opportunity, Su Xiao controlled Banishing to fly back.

A hole was pierced in the bottom of the Holy Grail of Death. After a few seconds of silence, a section of the cup wall of the Holy Grail of Death caved in.

Thump~

Su Xiao's heart skipped a heavy beat, which made him narrow his eyes. With one hand pressed on the hilt of his blade, this time... he had been outplayed.

Just then, a suction force seemed to appear inside the Holy Grail of Death, and the entire cup was sucked into a ball.

【Prompt: You have participated in the handling of Dangerous Object S-002 (Holy Grail of Death).】

【The leader of this event is: Rule-Breaker, Gray Gentleman.】

【Because you are in a specially designated area and have participated in the handling of Dangerous Object S-002 (Holy Grail of Death), you have implicitly formed a temporary squad with the Gray Gentleman. This squad has been notarized by the Tree of the Void.】

【The members of this event squad are: Gray Gentleman, Bai Ye.】

【You will bear the soul backlash from destroying the Holy Grail of Death.】

【The Gray Gentleman will bear the mental backlash from destroying the Holy Grail of Death.】

【In this judgment, if one party fails, they will die immediately, and it will cause the other party's Stamina, Soul Strength, and Willpower attributes to be permanently reduced by 20%.】

【You have undergone the soul judgment.】

【Your Soul Strength is 500 points.】

【You have passed the soul judgment!】

【The Gray Gentleman has undergone the willpower judgment.】

【The Gray Gentleman's real Willpower attribute is 310 points.】

【The Gray Gentleman has passed the willpower judgment!】

A series of judgments appeared. In the gallery, the man sitting on the iron chair straightened up and opened his eyes. The anesthetic, which was enough to sedate a large supernatural creature, had no effect on him.

"Long time no see, Bai Ye."

The man on the iron chair smiled. He raised his right hand, which was fixed to the chair's armrest, tearing until the flesh and skin detached. He used his remaining skeletal hand to grasp the metal wire at the back of his head and pulled hard.

Ding~

A crisp sound of a pin being pulled came.

Puchi, puchi, puchi...

Blades retracted into the metal hood, piercing the man's skull. With blood gushing from his eye sockets, he stared at Su Xiao, his face still maintaining a smile. The next instant, Banishing pierced his skull.

Su Xiao had already guessed what was going on. This matter was set up by the Gray Gentleman. At first glance, it looked like an ambush to keep him here forever, but in reality, it hid a deeper mystery.

The steps of this plan were few, but the simpler the plan, the harder it was to guard against, just like how a machine with a simpler structure is less likely to break.

【Prompt: Your squad has completed the soul and willpower judgments. This is a special event notarized by the Tree of the Void, and the rewards are also issued by the Tree of the Void.】

【You passed the soul judgment; you have obtained the following rewards.】

【You obtained 10.7% of the World's Source.】

【You obtained Soul Crystal (Complete) x100.】

【You obtained Soul Casket (Treasure Chest item; upon opening, you can obtain soul-type equipment).】

【You obtained Basic Passive: Soul Resilience (This is a basic passive skill scroll; the corresponding attribute is Soul Strength).】

【The Gray Gentleman passed the willpower judgment and is the leader of this mission; he has obtained the following rewards.】

【The Gray Gentleman obtained Dangerous Object S-002 (Holy Grail of Death). This dangerous object has been notarized by the Tree of the Void and can be taken out of this world. After leaving this world, the strength of the Holy Grail of Death will be slightly reduced (small margin).】